Cariani - A Concert - Google Art Project

Giovanni Cariani (c. 1490–1547), also known as Giovanni Busi or Il Cariani, was an Italian painter of the high-

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history The history of Europe is traditionally divided into four time periods: prehistoric Europe (prior to about 800 BC), classical antiquity (800 BC to AD ...

, active in

Venice Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 bridges. The isla ...

and the Venetian mainland, including Bergamo, thought to be his native city.

Overview

255221-1330620645 royal Col Cariani Adoration

His father, also Giovanni Busi, was born in Fuipiano Al Brembo which is a hamlet of San Giovanni Bianco (Bergamo), and was appointed a local magistrate for the Venetian authorities. His son, also born in Fuipiano Al Brembo, is known to have lived in

starting in 1509, and may have trained with either Giovanni Bellini or

Giorgione Giorgione (, , ; born Giorgio Barbarelli da Castelfranco; 1477–78 or 1473–74 – 17 September 1510) was an Italian painter of the Venetian school during the High Renaissance, who died in his thirties. He is known for the elusive poetic quali ...

, and almost certainly was influenced by them. Though he worked often in Bergamo, he died in Venice in 1547. He was strongly influenced by

Palma il Vecchio Palma Vecchio (c. 1480 – 30 July 1528), born Jacopo Palma, also known as Jacopo Negretti, was a Venetian painter of the Italian High Renaissance. He is called Palma Vecchio in English and Palma il Vecchio in Italian ("Palma the Elder") to di ...

, but had a provincial love of scenery as seen in his ''

Sacra conversazione In art, a (; plural: ''sacre conversazioni''), meaning holy (or sacred) conversation, is a genre developed in Italian Renaissance painting, with a depiction of the Virgin and Child (the Virgin Mary with the infant Jesus) amidst a group of sain ...

with a youthful donor''. While working in Bergamo (1517–1523), he likely overlapped with

Lorenzo Lotto Lorenzo Lotto (c. 1480 – 1556/57) was an Italian painter, draughtsman, and illustrator, traditionally placed in the Venetian school, though much of his career was spent in other north Italian cities. He painted mainly altarpieces, religiou ...

, who worked there from 1513-1525.

''Cariani and the Courtesans''

The 1987 BBC Two television play '' Cariani and the Courtesans'', written and directed by

Leslie Megahey Norman Leslie Megahey (22 December 1944 – 27 August 2022) was a British television producer, director and writer. Born in Belfast, Northern Ireland, the son of Thomas Megahey (a minister) and Beatrice (née Walton), Leslie Megahey was educated ...

, presented a fictionalised account of the painter's time in Venice, with Cariani (

Paul McGann Paul John McGann (; born 14 November 1959) is an English actor. He came to prominence for portraying Percy Toplis in the television serial '' The Monocled Mutineer'' (1986), then starred in the dark comedy '' Withnail and I'' (1987), which wa ...

) interacting with other historical characters, such as

Tullia d'Aragona Tullia d'Aragona (1501/1505 – March or April 1556) was an Italian poet, author and philosopher. Born in Rome sometime between 1501 and 1505, Tullia traveled throughout Venice, Ferrara, Siena, and Florence before returning to Rome. Throughout her ...

(

Diana Quick Diana Marilyn Quick (born 23 November 1946) is an English actress. Early life and family background Quick was born on 23 November 1946 in London, England. She grew up in Dartford, Kent, the third of four children. Her father was Leonard Qui ...

Marcantonio Raimondi Marcantonio Raimondi, often called simply Marcantonio (c. 1470/82 – c. 1534), was an Italian engraver, known for being the first important printmaker whose body of work consists largely of prints copying paintings. He is therefore a key figu ...

(

Simon Callow Simon Phillip Hugh Callow (born 15 June 1949) is an English film, television and voice actor, director, narrator and writer. He was twice nominated for BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role for his roles in ''A Room with a View'' (19 ...

), and Francesco Albani (

Michael Gough Francis Michael Gough ( ; 23 November 1916 – 17 March 2011) was a British character actor who made more than 150 film and television appearances. He is known for his roles in the Hammer Horror Films from 1958, with his first role as Sir Arthu ...

), with a brief "cameo" by Albrecht Dürer (

Frederik de Groot Frederik Percy de Groot (born 23 May 1946 in Bilthoven) is a Dutch actor. In the Netherlands he appeared in the detective series ''Bureau Kruislaan'' and its spin-off '' Unit 13''. Biography He is best known, however, in Canada where he was th ...

), and narrated by Charles Gray. The narrative is woven around the painting of a number of his works, principally ''Four Courtesans and Three Gentlemen'

Megahey had previously used the same narrative device on the 1979 production ''

Schalcken the Painter ''Schalcken the Painter'' is a British television horror film based on the 1839 story ''Strange Event in the Life of Schalken the Painter'' by Sheridan Le Fanu, and stars Jeremy Clyde as Godfried Schalcken and Maurice Denham as Gerrit Dou. It a ...

''.

Partial anthology of works

* ''

The Lute Player The Lute Player, The Tsaritsa Harpist or The Tsaritsa who Played the Gusli (russian: Царица-гусляр), is a Russian fairy tale. It was published by Alexander Afanasyev in his collection ''Russian Fairy Tales'', as number 338. Andrew La ...

'' (c. 1514-1516) - Musee des Beaux Arts de Strasbourg * ''Conversation between young woman and old man'' (1516) -

Hermitage Museum The State Hermitage Museum ( rus, Государственный Эрмитаж, r=Gosudarstvennyj Ermitaž, p=ɡəsʊˈdarstvʲɪn(ː)ɨj ɪrmʲɪˈtaʂ, links=no) is a museum of art and culture in Saint Petersburg, Russia. It is the largest ...

, St. Petersburg

* ''Resurrection of Christ with two Donors'' (1520) -

Pinacoteca di Brera The Pinacoteca di Brera ("Brera Art Gallery") is the main public gallery for paintings in Milan, Italy. It contains one of the foremost collections of Italian paintings from the 13th to the 20th century, an outgrowth of the cultural program of ...

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...

br>
. * ''Pala di San Gottardo'' (1523) - Pinacoteca di Brera,

. * ''Madonna Cucitrice'' (1525–28) -

Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Antica The Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Antica or National Gallery of Ancient Art is an art museum in Rome, Italy. It is the principal national collection of older paintings in Rome – mostly from before 1800; it does not hold any antiquities. It has two ...

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

. * ''Finding the True Cross'' (1530) -

Accademia Carrara The Accademia Carrara, (), officially Accademia Carrara di Belle Arti di Bergamo, is an art gallery and an academy of fine arts in Bergamo, in Lombardy in northern Italy. The art gallery was established in about 1780 by , a Bergamasco col ...

, Bergamo. * ''Lovers in a Landscape'' (1530) -

Palazzo Venezia The Palazzo Venezia or Palazzo Barbo (), formerly Palace of St. Mark, is a palazzo (palace) in central Rome, Italy, just north of the Capitoline Hill. The original structure of this great architectural complex consisted of a modest medieval hous ...

* ''Lady Portrait'' (1530) - White Palace, Belgrade * ''A Concert'' (1518–20) - National Gallery of Art, Washington D

* ''Sacra Conversazione with a Youthful Donor'' (1640) - National Gallery, Londo

* ''Saint Agata'' (1516) - National Gallery, Ottawa, Canad

* Portrait (1517) - National Gallery, Londo

References

* * "Some Venetian Portraits in English Possession," Herbert Cook, ''The Burlington Magazine for Connoisseurs'' (1906) page 343-344.

External links

Painters of reality: the legacy of Leonardo and Caravaggio in Lombardy
an exhibition catalog from The Metropolitan Museum of Art (fully available online as PDF), which contains material on Cariani (see index) {{DEFAULTSORT:Cariani, Giovanni 1490s births 1547 deaths 15th-century Italian painters Italian male painters 16th-century Italian painters Painters from Bergamo Italian Renaissance painters